http://www.qnetnews.ca/?p=6282

Loyalist professor wins CBC book award

http://www.qnetnews.ca/?p=6256

GPS system in Belleville buses causing more havoc than help

http://www.qnetnews.ca/?p=7221

Radio student gets second chance with Second Career

http://www.qnetnews.ca/?p=1045

Loyalist College goes green

http://www.qnetnews.ca/?p=8611

Tomorrow I will be shooting the Loyalist College open house along with a fellow classmate. Trying to remember what to shoot and how to edit will be tricky. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we go to air with our news cast for Q Net News.

My main interests are in the broadcast side of things, so it’s nice to have a break from the print/online part for awhile. I do like print though, as you can have so much more freedom with the length of your pieces. So far I haven’t been told I wrote something that is too long. Broadcast is something else though. You have to try and get everything out in restrained amounts of time…Like a full story in a minute.

The Province, political columnist Michael Smyth had this story published November 19^th 2009.  Smyth is an experienced journalist who has been in the field for over 20-years writing for Canadian Press and also a regular on television and radio. Smyth writes this in an opinion aspect as he proclaims some of the points personally by using “I”.  Smyth started writing sports before moving on to politics which gives him knowledge on the Olympics but does not necessarily leave a bias.

The article uses a quote from VANOC vice-president John McLaughlin as well as refers to work the NDP has done in this case. The NDPs involvement in this article was they were trying to request documentation regarding the Olympic budget.

After reading the article many questions popped into my head. My main question was how much money is the government spending to make the Olympics happen and how much are they expecting to make in revenue. After researching this I found some articles stating some of the costs that are being covered by the 20 million dollar Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Fund. $65,000 is being spent on 6,000 Olympic banners to hang around Vancouver while $25,000 was spent on a four page newspaper supplement in the Vancouver Sun. Also an article published January 27^th 2010 in the Globe and Mail stated that $377,000 was spent handing out tickets to members of City Council and their spouses for free. The taxpayers money could have been spent on other things, such as the four full time work positions that were eliminated this winter.

For the past few months the Olympics has been something that I have taken interest in. Not for the glory that most Canadians associate with it but because I feel the money could be spent a bit more wisely and distributed to other places in need of it. Over the past year I have read many articles against the Olympics and their spending and in trying to keep and unbiased reflection I have also read many that are pro Olympics. I do think that they are a great asset for our country, but at what cost. How much money is Canada willing to swindle and take from the public to hold these ‘games’. 

I enjoyed reading the article as it did give insight in to a part of what goes on within the Olympic planning. It left a desire to find more information and get more opinions on the spending.

“And then I remember Cindy Klassen is making a good buck pitching crap. To kids. My kids. And that makes me want to stuff an Egg McMuffin down her throat.”

While Gardner explains his negativity towards Cindy Klassen and the Empire of McDoanlds and Coca-Cola, he makes his bias evident as he explains the target of this market is to children. Gardner does catch himself saying this in reference to Klassen.

“Not that I would, you understand. I’m sure she’s a perfectly lovely person.”

This article doesn’t directly quote anyone besides Gardner himself. He does however use exerts from the McDonalds website and commercials. Cindy Klassen, Canada’s famed athlete is used in the McDonalds commercial eating a McMuffin, when a McDonalds employee walks up to her the commercial recognizes that they will both be going to the Olympics. Thus leading viewers to believe that Klassen eats McDoanlds every once in awhile. Gardner is trying to say that, with the rising obesity rate, the Olympics are funded to advertise against obesity, but major sponsors like McDonalds are doing the exact opposite. By using athletes in their commercials it makes it look okay to eat the junk that McDonalds serves. To me this article just proves how desperate the Olympics are for money and getting publicity. I’m sure without junk sponsors they wouldn’t be doing to bad.

For myself, this article proves the controversy that surrounds the Olympics. The fact that they are money hungry, and will go to all extents to ensure they receive the most publicity and money. Seeing a Canadian athlete advertising for McDonalds is alarming, seeing how I highly doubt she eats there regularly.

This shows how big corporations have taken over the world. McDonalds is the highest grossing fast food chain, and has had a ton of celebrities endorse their product. I guess in the world of business and money it is normal to exploit people and do whatever it takes to make tons of money. I highly doubt Cindy Klassen was relying on her McDonalds cheque to send her to the Olympics.

For McDonalds all publicity is good. Even after the documentary Supersize Me, McDonalds is raking in the cash. So for them to advertise with the Olympics is just another way of showing the world how great they think they are.  

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/lovin+Olympic+junk+food+peddlers/2588131/story.html

This article was published for CBC News with information from Canadian Press. No author is directly referred to in this article. It was published March 11^th 2010.

The article does not have any bias as it is not an opinion piece. It is based on factual information.

The article quotes Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Chuck Strahl. Strahl expresses that this is a ‘gender equity issue.’ Strahl is directly involved in this article as it is his job to represent this issue for the government.

 Strahl expresses his point throughout the article. His thoughts are important because he is a person who can change the outcome of what parliament decides.  

I wonder how the government knows what to base these decisions on of who can earn Indian status.

I never realized how Indian status worked, and that in 2010 native women were still not getting the same treatment as native men. This makes me question how long it will take for the passage of the bill. I also wonder if in a few years the subject will come up again, and status will be handed out to third generations. This article gave me a really uneasy feeling. I thought a civilized country like Canada would at least have better equality laws by now. I didn’t think they would be pro-longing a case like this. Despite the fact that it’s unfair, it looks terrible on our nation.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2010/03/11/status-indian.html

            Baute reports that the UGG boots, worn by women around the world, are actually bad for your feet! Podiatrists are saying that the boot can leave a knock-kneed effect and cause leg and back problems. The boot has little support and should only be worn as a slipper. Despite this, UGGs seem to be leading the fashion world for several years.

            The Australian boots can cost up to $425 Canadian. For that amount of money you would hope your getting a good supportive shoe. But the price isn’t stopping consumers from buying them. Even in the spring and well into summer everywhere you look mini-skirts and UGG boots are being worn. Whatever happened to the flip-flop? Sure, flimsy sandals aren’t the best for foot support either, but when you can spend around 10-dollars for a pair how is there even competition.

            UGG, not only makes their classic Australian sheep-skin boot but you can find a variety of shoes, accessories and yes…even flip flops…which by the way start around 45-dollars Canadian. So, what has ultimately baffled me is the price of all this.

            I’m just as guilty as everyone else, spending ridiculous amounts of money on clothing and shoes. But at least when I do, I know I’m getting some kind of quality out of it. My clothing needs to last years and give me comfort. And above all not ruin a part of body. I will never understand the UGG epidemic that has taken over.

            UGG is short for one thing- UGLY.

More than 100 children will be tested in this study, that the British Health Department is conducting, costing over 1 million Euros. Children will be given small doses of peanut butter that eventually will build to be the equivalent of five peanuts per day.

This study has evolved from an initial trial that eliminated allergies to 20 out of 23 children.

Studies like this in the past have been successful in eliminating allergies, like bee stings and pollen. But this will be the first and largest study to do with food.

Finding food for children that doesn’t contain nuts can be difficult for most parents. The majority of items sold have warning labels stating ‘may contain traces of nut or peanuts.’ Although this does not always mean the food has peanuts in it, it’s not a risk people are willing to take.

Many schools across Canada have become peanut free to assist this deadly allergy. Products are being manufactured stating in bold writing on packaging ‘PEANUT FREE’. For companies to produce peanut free products is a big step. Quaker, makes varieties of food some containing nuts, but has separate operations for food claiming to be nut free.

The allergy is an unnecessary part of many Canadian lives. Parents have to deal with children wanting food that they can’t eat, and ensuring everything going into their mouth is safe. When children grow up and are suited to make these decisions on their own more problems arise. Things like who you are friends with or even relationships can take toll on peanut allergies. Many people are not able to have the experience of exchanging a kiss with someone for the fear that they could have eaten a peanut product. Not all fatalities from peanuts are created by personal consumption.

If a cure was made available to the public for this allergy many people would be positively affected by it, but it is still in the works and questions are still being raised about its reliability and affects it has on the people using it.

In Morgan Campell’s blog posted on the Star.com, he explores new information and upcoming fights. His most recent http://thestar.blogs.com/fightingwords/ found here, explains Dana White- president of the UFC’s decision to bring pay-per-view fights to movie theaters.

UFC has taken over the sports world. Leading the way in gruesome fighting, it has left boxing to take the back seat. Starting March 27^th at UFC 111 they will take a lesson from boxing by having their shows in the theaters. Despite boxing taking a blow when they implemented this, UFC has better hopes. An average fight costs over 50 dollars to order on your home television. At one fight a month that can set the average fan back. But when UFC hits theatres, tickets will be costing the same price as regular movies.

Despite initial thought that this could take away from pay-per-view revenue for UFC, one has to think of it like this: The majority of fans don’t order fights and sit at home alone watching them. They have friends over and have fight nights. So what does this mean for the UFC? It’s still going to be a lot cheaper for people to split the cost of watching a fight at home rather than going to the theatre to all pay admission.

Hand-in-hand with fighting, goes drinking. Bars and Pubs make huge revenue of holding a fight night. Bars that would normally be dead on a Saturday night, have waiting lines to get in to watch the fight once a month.

Dana White is being smart with his empire, constantly coming out with new ideas to build a fan base and new programming ideas. Recently UFC started airing undercard fights for pay-per-view free on Spike, which leads to an incentive for people to order the fight to see how it ends. Also, UFC recently hosted a fight in Australia. Building fan base around the world has taken off. Already two fights have been shown in Montreal, Canada.

For fans out there waiting for UFC to expand into Ontario, they will be waiting a long time. Premier Dalton McGuinty recently told reporters that UFC is not a priority right now. Stating that jobs and strengthening the economy are main priorities right now. UFC officials are stating that Ontarians are their biggest fan base. They are predicting a crowd of over 35,000 spectators if it was held in Ontario.

Despite protestors on UFC it clearly proves that it is one of the biggest televised sports right now, and isn’t going away any time soon.

Other Sources:

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/02/17/12920551.html

On Monday, American Pediatricians said Hot dogs need to be redesigned so they aren’t potentially lethal to small children in a new policy statement.

As of now Pediatricians are calling for some of these things:

-          Warning labels on foods that pose a high choking risk

-          The establishment of a nationwide food-related choking-incident surveillance and reporting system

-          Keep coins and other small items out of reach of young children at all times.

Hot dogs consist of processed meat, sometimes containing two or three different types. They also contain fillers and sodium nitrate. This alone should scare parents away from feeding these to their children. But yet child after child falls victim to choking on something as simple as a hot dog.

Rather than spending the time and the money to put warnings on these packages or change the shape, why not educate the public on what their putting into their children’s bodies. Soon enough everything is going to be set with warning. Children don’t come with an instruction manual but common sense and a little public knowledge could be saving children’s lives if their parents aren’t capable of it.

After the game last night that many celebrities were present at, Buzz Aldrin gave his thoughts on Canada’s loss to The Canadian Press, in this article published for the Vancouver 2010 special in The Star.

“The media makes an awful big thing about how many gold medals do you win, who’s first. That’s not the point.” Said Aldrin.

Own the Podium, has spent 117-million dollars in the past five years to ensure Canada finishes first in the medal standing. Own the Podium hasn’t been much luck for Canadians as we’re tied for fourth in the Olympics with nine medals and America leading with 24. Coming in first is now unrealistic for our country.

With services like Own the Podium set up it gives a ‘we’re better than you’ message to other countries. What’s wrong with Canada being happy to host the Olympics and give athletes recognition for their work and hardships endured to get here.  I’m sure VANOC and Olympic fans give recognition to athletes, but is that what gets the most publicity? No. The focus is on what sports we lose, and how many medals we can achieve.

Canadians need to see the underlying issues of the Olympics. Sure, there apparently supposed to boost our economy, but what about the debt were consuming? What about the hundreds of poor people in Vancouver being kicked out of subsidised housing?

There are more important things to life than how many medals our country can claim on home soil.

Original Article:  http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/article/769496–don-t-have-to-be-first-second-man-on-the-moon-tells-canada